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This webinar was presented by Eva Papaioannou of the University of Dundee and Rebecca Selden of Rutgers University

Fish resources in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US are sensitive to the impacts of climate change, with marked shifts in species’ distribution already taking place. Fishing communities’ response strategies to change are frequently neglected within policy, compromising the effectiveness of management schemes. This presentation will describe: 1) how fishing communities in these regions are responding to changes in the abundance and distribution of major commercial species and 2) how key characteristics of the fisheries (e.g., species diversity, gear diversity, vessel mobility, quota and permitting systems, proximity to fishing grounds) and fishing communities shape their choice of response strategies (e.g., changes in fishing effort, port of landing, and target species). This presentation will draw from research on New England lobster fisheries and mid-Atlantic Bight trawl fisheries. Results from these types of studies are critical for the development of climate-ready fisheries management and community adaptation plans.

This webinar was presented by Jane Lubchenco and Kirsten Grorud-Colvert of Oregon State University, Dan Laffoley of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas-Marine, and Naomi Kingston of UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

As countries work toward meeting their Aichi and SDG targets of protecting 10% of the ocean by 2020, and as post-2020 agenda discussions begin, many players are wrestling with the confusion around the plethora of types of MPAs and other related conservation measures. Fortunately, clarity surrounding many of the key issues is emerging. This webinar will describe the consensus arising from multiple recent MPA workshops, including answers to these questions: What is (and is not) an MPA? What standards should all MPAs meet? What are Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) and how do they relate to MPAs? IUCN already recognizes different types of MPAs according to their management objectives and governance arrangements, but is there a simple set of categories to describe the level of protection afforded by an MPA? What outcomes are likely from different levels of protection? Recognizing that it often takes time and multiple steps to establish a new MPA, when during the process should a new MPA be ‘counted’ in official tallies of total protection for a country or the world? Please note: This session is an extended question and answer session following the December 4 webinar on this subject.

This webinar was presented by Jane Lubchenco and Kirsten Grorud-Colvert of Oregon State University, Dan Laffoley of IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas-Marine, and Naomi Kingston of UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

As countries work toward meeting their Aichi and SDG targets of protecting 10% of the ocean by 2020, and as post-2020 agenda discussions begin, many players are wrestling with the confusion around the plethora of types of MPAs and other related conservation measures. Fortunately, clarity surrounding many of the key issues is emerging. This webinar will describe the consensus arising from multiple recent MPA workshops, including answers to these questions: What is (and is not) an MPA? What standards should all MPAs meet? What are Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs) and how do they relate to MPAs? IUCN already recognizes different types of MPAs according to their management objectives and governance arrangements, but is there a simple set of categories to describe the level of protection afforded by an MPA? What outcomes are likely from different levels of protection? Recognizing that it often takes time and multiple steps to establish a new MPA, when during the process should a new MPA be ‘counted’ in official tallies of total protection for a country or the world?

The world’s oceans have the potential to be significantly more plentiful than today even with climate change, provided good management practices are put in place and warming is held to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, according to the first-of-its kind study (http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/8/eaao1378). The study shows that compared to today, estimated future global outcomes include a $14 billion USD increase in profits, 25 billion additional servings of seafood, and 217 million more metric tons of fish in the sea - nearly a third more fish than exist today, if we can meet the imperative of the Paris Climate Accord and ensure global temperatures don’t rise beyond 2 degrees Celsius. Co-authors will discuss the findings and implications of the paper, as well as what is already being done by governments around the world to address climate change impacts on fisheries and people around the globe.

This webinar was presented by Alistair Hobday of CSIRO and Eric Oliver of Dalhousie University.

Extreme climate and weather events shape the structure of biological systems and affect the biogeochemical functions and services they provide for society. There is overwhelming evidence that the frequency, duration, intensity and timing of extreme events on land are changing under global warming, increasing the risk of severe, pervasive and in some cases irreversible impacts on natural and socio-economic systems. Climatic extremes also occur in the ocean, and recent decades have seen many high-impact marine heatwaves (MHWs) –anomalously warm water events that may last many months and extend over thousands of square kilometres. A range of biological and economic impacts have been associated with some intense MHWs. We will cover historical and projected trends in these events, and the role of attribution for communication and mechanistic understanding. Growing public interest in marine extreme events means that measuring the severity of these phenomena in real time is becoming more important, and we propose a method for consistent description of MHWs that is compatible with an underlying long term trend. Finally, we will demonstrate software that is available for use to study or follow MHWs in your area of interest

Presented by: Paul Buckley of the Centre for the Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).

Climate change is already affecting a wide range of marine and coastal conservation features (habitats, species, and communities). Impacts on the quality, composition and presence of these protected features presents challenges to their conservation within protected sites and their wider networks. Here we present findings from recent studies undertaken by the UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) on the implications of climate change for protected features and wider marine biodiversity legislation. Case studies on the vulnerability of specific marine conservation features to climate change are presented, and potential management options explored. Broader issues for the implementation of legislation that includes coastal and marine biodiversity are discussed, including mechanisms that exist within these obligations to ‘accommodate’ impacts of climate change. Finally, wider challenges, and opportunities, for the conservation of marine species, habitats, and communities in a changing climate are explored.

Webinar co-sponsored by the NOAA National MPA Center, MPA News, and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).

The chemistry of the ocean is changing. Carbon dioxide released through emissions and deforestation is absorbed and dissolved into the ocean. The regional Coastal Acidification Networks of the US Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (NECAN and MACAN) are consortiums of scientists, marine industry, and resource managers with a central goal of sharing information to better understand the impacts of acidification to appropriately manage and adapt to these conditions. Coordinators for NECAN and MACAN will discuss how these regional efforts work towards identifying and pursuing opportunities to understand coastal and ocean acidification in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, building upon the skills and interests of individual members and providing a forum to share best practices in monitoring, sampling collection, and researching effects to collectively meet the challenges of our changing coastal and ocean waters.

This webinar was presented by Gretta Pecl of the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and Centre for Marine Socioecology in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Climate change is driving a pervasive global redistribution of the planet’s species, with manifest implications from genes to ecosystems across multiple temporal and spatial scales. Species redistribution defies current approaches to natural resource management that focus on restoring systems to a baseline and are often based on boundaries drawn in the past. Changes in distribution of marine resources creates difficulties, particularly when species cross jurisdictional boundaries and where historical catch rates and assessment processes may no longer be appropriate. Moreover, we are still a long way from understanding the suite of mechanisms and processes underlying the high variation in rate and magnitude of shifts. We have even less understanding of how species redistribution will drive changes in ecological communities and further complicate aspirations of ecosystem-based management. Climate-driven species redistribution therefore presents intriguing ecological challenges to unravel, as well as fundamental philosophical questions and urgent issues related to ecology, fisheries, food security, Indigenous and local livelihoods, and many other aspects of human well-being. This presentation will highlight some of the progress with adaptation planning and adaptation actions at international, national and local scales, including the need for an interdisciplinary approach and stakeholder engagement.

Webinar co-sponsored by the NOAA National MPA Center, MPA News, and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).

The Global Ghost Gear Initiative is a cross-sectoral alliance working to tackle the problem of ghost fishing gear worldwide by building evidence, catalyzing sustainable solutions, and promoting best practice. In this webinar, we will discuss new ground-breaking partnerships that we are fostering to scale-up efforts. We will also highlight some new innovative solution projects that we have rolled out in developing countries, including in Indonesia, Myanmar, and the wider South Pacific region. Finally, we will touch on the external opportunities that we see to further leverage the issue of ghost gear. This webinar complements our previous webinar Ghost Fishing Gear: The Global Problem and the Global Solution held on April 10, 2018.

Webinar cosponsored by MarineDebris. Info and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by NatureServe and OCTO).

Every MPA site, region, and capacity building program is unique in structure and content, yet all programs need to build trust and community to create a locally-relevant format and framework. To contribute to the ongoing growth of the global social network of marine protected area (MPA) practitioners, the presenters will share observations from the social MPA network building that was part of recent NOAA MPA Center International Capacity Building in the Philippines and Indonesia. These programs deliver technical capacity for effective MPA management and a participatory learning framework for participants to enhance their MPA social network to support long term implementation of gained knowledge and skills.

Webinar co-sponsored by the NOAA National MPA Center, MPA News, and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).